Method for touch sensing enhancement implemented in single chip, single chip capable of achieving touch sensing enhancement, and computing apparatus

ABSTRACT

A method for touch sensing enhancement implemented in a single chip, a single chip capable of achieving touch sensing enhancement, and a computing apparatus are introduced. The single chip is used to be coupled to a display panel with a touch sensor and a fingerprint sensor. The computing apparatus may include the display panel, the single chip, and a processing unit, wherein the single chip is coupled between the display panel and processing unit. The method includes obtaining touch sensing data by a touch sensing module disposed within the single chip and coupled to the touch sensor; obtaining fingerprint sensing data by a fingerprint sensing module disposed within the single chip and coupled to the fingerprint sensor; and generating output touch data based on the touch sensing data and the fingerprint sensing data. With the contribution of the fingerprint sensing data, touch sensing enhancement can be achieved.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present disclosure relates to a technology for touch sensingenhancement, and in particular to a method for touch sensing enhancementimplemented in a single chip, a single chip capable of achieving touchsensing enhancement, and a computing apparatus.

2. Description of the Related Art

For computing devices, such as smart phones, tablet computers or otherinformation processing devices, touch screens have become indispensablecomponents of the computing devices for user interactions. A user cangive input or control the computing device through single-touch ormulti-touch gestures by touching the touch screen with one or morefingers or a special stylus.

Demand for better touch performance for touch screens continues toincrease. The touch performance can be affected by a variety of factorssuch as the size of sensor pitch, the stability of the common ground,the length of the sensing time, the magnitude of the environmentalnoise, and the circuit structure of analog front end and so on.

In addition, the touch screens have their own intrinsic limitations sothat it is challenging to improve their touch performance. For example,a capacitive touch screen typically has its touch resolution much lessthan the display resolution of the touch screen. The position of a touchmay not be obtained accurately. For multi-touch functions, if twofingers contacting the touch screen are too close to be distinguished,an incorrect touch event may be determined, causing undesirable userexperience.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An objective of the present disclosure is to provide a technology fortouch sensing enhancement, in which output touch data can be generatedbased on touch sensing data and fingerprint sensing data. With thecontribution of the fingerprint sensing data, touch sensing enhancementcan be achieved.

To achieve at least the above objective, the present disclosure providesa method for touch sensing enhancement implemented in a single chip,wherein the single chip is used to be coupled to a display panel with atouch sensor and a fingerprint sensor. The method comprises obtainingtouch sensing data by a touch sensing module disposed within the singlechip and coupled to the touch sensor; obtaining fingerprint sensing databy a fingerprint sensing module disposed within the single chip andcoupled to the fingerprint sensor; and generating output touch databased on the touch sensing data and the fingerprint sensing data.

In an embodiment, the fingerprint sensing data is obtained when thedisplay panel does not show any request for a fingerprint.

In an embodiment, the fingerprint sensing data is obtained and usedinternally in the single chip for touch sensing enhancement, after useridentification recognition is completed (i.e., a user has beenauthenticated) or which even can be irrelevant to user identificationrecognition.

In an embodiment, the method further comprises requesting thefingerprint sensing data from the fingerprint sensing module when thetouch sensing data indicates a touch event.

In an embodiment, the method further comprises determining that thetouch sensing data indicates the touch event when the touch sensing dataexceeds a threshold value.

In an embodiment, the step of obtaining the fingerprint sensing datacomprises converting the fingerprint sensing data from a first domaincorresponding to a fingerprint sensing resolution to a second domaincorresponding to a touch sensing resolution.

In an embodiment, the step of obtaining the fingerprint sensing datacomprises controlling the fingerprint sensor to have a fingerprintsensing resolution equal to a touch sensing resolution.

In an embodiment, the output touch data includes a position indicating atouch point.

In an embodiment, the position indicating the touch point is determinedbased on the touch sensing data and the fingerprint sensing data.

In an embodiment, the touch sensing data includes a first positiondetected by the touch sensor, the fingerprint sensing data includes asecond position detected by the fingerprint sensor, and the positionindicating the touch point is determined according to the first positionand the second position.

In an embodiment, the position indicating the touch point is a weightedaveraged position of the first position and the second position.

In an embodiment, the output touch data includes a plurality ofpositions indicating a plurality of touch points correspondingly.

In an embodiment, the step of generating output touch data based on thetouch sensing data and the fingerprint sensing data includes determininga plurality of fingerprint data regions in the fingerprint sensing dataaccording to the fingerprint sensing data; determining a plurality oftouch data regions in the touch sensing data according to thefingerprint data regions; and determining the output touch data at leastbased on at least one of the touch data regions.

In an embodiment, the step of determining the output touch dataincludes: determining a corresponding position for each one of the touchdata regions based on the one of the touch data regions, wherein theoutput touch data includes the corresponding position for each one ofthe touch data regions.

To achieve at least the above objective, the present disclosure providesa single chip capable of achieving touch sensing enhancement, whereinthe single chip is used to be coupled to a display panel with a touchsensor and a fingerprint sensor. The single chip comprises a touchsensing circuit, a fingerprint sensing module, and a control unit. Thetouch sensing circuit is utilized for being coupled to the touch sensorand obtaining touch sensing data. The fingerprint sensing module isemployed for being coupled to the touch sensor and obtaining fingerprintsensing data. The control unit, coupled to the touch sensing circuit andthe fingerprint sensing module, is utilized for generating output touchdata based on the touch sensing data and the fingerprint sensing data.

To achieve at least the above objective, the present disclosure furtherprovides a computing apparatus comprising a display panel with a touchsensor and a fingerprint sensor, a processing unit, and a single chipcapable of achieving touch sensing enhancement. The single chip capableof achieving touch sensing enhancement is coupled between the displaypanel and the processing unit. The single chip comprises a touch sensingcircuit, a fingerprint sensing module, and a control unit. The touchsensing circuit, coupled to the touch sensor, is utilized for obtainingtouch sensing data. The fingerprint sensing module, coupled to thefingerprint sensor, is utilized for obtaining fingerprint sensing data.The control unit, coupled to the touch sensing circuit and thefingerprint sensing module, is utilized for generating output touch databased on the touch sensing data and the fingerprint sensing data.

In some embodiments of the single chip or computing apparatus, thefingerprint sensing data is obtained when a display panel does not showany request for a fingerprint.

In some embodiments of the single chip or computing apparatus, thefingerprint sensing data is obtained and used internally in the singlechip for touch sensing enhancement, after user identificationrecognition is completed (i.e., a user has been authenticated) or whicheven can be irrelevant to user identification recognition.

In some embodiments of the single chip or computing apparatus, thecontrol unit is configured to request the fingerprint sensing data fromthe fingerprint sensing module when the touch sensing data indicates atouch event.

In some embodiments of the single chip or computing apparatus, thecontrol unit is configured to determine that the touch sensing dataindicates the touch event when the touch sensing data exceeds athreshold value.

In some embodiments of the single chip or computing apparatus, thefingerprint sensing data is converted from a first domain correspondingto a fingerprint sensing resolution to a second domain corresponding toa touch sensing resolution.

In some embodiments of the single chip or computing apparatus, thefingerprint sensor is controlled to have a fingerprint sensingresolution equal to a touch sensing resolution.

In some embodiments of the single chip or computing apparatus, theoutput touch data includes a position indicating a touch point.

In some embodiments of the single chip or computing apparatus, thecontrol unit is configured to determine the position based on the touchsensing data and the fingerprint sensing data.

In some embodiments of the single chip or computing apparatus, the touchsensing data includes a first position detected by the touch sensor, thefingerprint sensing data includes a second position detected by thefingerprint sensor, and the position indicating the touch point isdetermined according to the first position and the second position.

In some embodiments of the single chip or computing apparatus, theposition indicating the touch point is a weighted averaged position ofthe first position and the second position.

In some embodiments of the single chip or computing apparatus, theoutput touch data includes a plurality of positions indicating aplurality of touch points correspondingly.

In some embodiments of the single chip or computing apparatus, thecontrol unit is configured to determine a plurality of touch dataregions in the touch sensing data according to the fingerprint sensingdata, and determines the output touch data at least based on the touchdata regions.

In some embodiments of the single chip or computing apparatus, thecontrol unit is configured to determine a position at least based on acorresponding one of the touch data regions, wherein the output touchdata includes the position.

In some embodiments of the single chip or computing apparatus, thecontrol unit is configured to determine a plurality of fingerprint dataregions in the fingerprint sensing data according to the fingerprintsensing data; the control unit is configured to determine a plurality oftouch data regions in the touch sensing data according to thefingerprint data regions; and the control unit is configured todetermine the output touch data based on the touch data regions.

In some embodiments of the single chip or computing apparatus, thecontrol unit is configured to determine a corresponding position foreach one of the touch data regions at least based on the one of thetouch data regions, wherein the output touch data includes thecorresponding position for each one of the touch data regions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a single chip capable ofachieving touch sensing enhancement according to an embodiment of theinvention, employed in a computing device.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a single chip capable ofachieving touch sensing enhancement according to another embodiment ofthe invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of touch sensingdata.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of fingerprintsensing data.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method for touch sensingenhancement implemented in a single chip according to an embodiment ofthe invention.

FIG. 6A is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a fingerprintsensing resolution greater than a touch sensing resolution.

FIG. 6B is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of associationbetween a touch data node and a plurality of fingerprint data nodes inaccordance with the example of FIG. 6A.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of determinationof a representative point based on the touch sensing data and thefingerprint sensing data.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating conversion of the coordinatesbetween the touch sensing data and the fingerprint sensing data.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of step S30 of themethod based on FIG. 5.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of variation oftouch sensing data.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of variation offingerprint sensing data.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of determinationof fingerprint data regions in the fingerprint sensing data.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of determinationof touch data regions (on the right) in the touch sensing data based onthe fingerprint data regions (on the left) determined as shown in FIG.12.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram illustrating another example ofdetermination of touch data regions.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating a single chip capable ofachieving touch sensing enhancement according to another embodiment ofthe invention, employed in a computing device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

To facilitate understanding of the object, characteristics and effectsof this present disclosure, embodiments together with the attacheddrawings for the detailed description of the present disclosure areprovided.

The following provides various embodiments for the technology for touchsensing enhancement, in which output touch data is capable of beinggenerated based on touch sensing data and fingerprint sensing data. Thetouch sensing can be enhanced with the contribution of the fingerprintsensing data.

For the sake of illustration, in the following embodiments of a singlechip capable of achieving touch sensing enhancement and a computingapparatus employing the single chip are introduced firstly. Then,provided are embodiments of a method for touch sensing enhancementimplemented in the single chip.

Referring to FIG. 1, a single chip 10 capable of achieving touch sensingenhancement is illustrated, which can be employed in a computing device1, according to an embodiment of the invention in block diagram form. Asshown in FIG. 1, the computing device 1 includes a processing unit 5, adisplay panel 9, and a single chip 10. The single chip 10 capable ofachieving touch sensing enhancement can be utilized for being coupledbetween the display panel 9 and the processing unit 5. As will beexemplified later, the single chip 10 can be configured to perform amethod for touch sensing enhancement illustrated in FIG. 5, in which thesingle chip 10 is capable of generating output touch data based on touchsensing data and fingerprint sensing data, thus enhancing the touchsensing with the contribution of the fingerprint sensing data.

Based on the structure of computing device 1 illustrated in FIG. 1, anyelectronic device such as a smart phone, tablet computer or any otherinformation processing device can be realized, wherein the computingdevice 1 may further include, but not limited to, additional componentssuch as memory, circuits for wireless or wired communication, imagecapturing or so on, whenever appropriate.

The processing unit 5 is capable of being configured to control thedisplay panel 9 to provide specific functionality. For example, theprocessing unit 5 executes an application program under an operatingsystem to control the display panel 9 through the single chip 10 so thatthe computing device 1 can interact with a user through the displaypanel 9.

The display panel 9 includes a display module 91, such as a liquidcrystal display (LCD) module, organic light emitting diode (OLED)module, or so on, and is provided with a touch sensor 93 and afingerprint sensor 95. The display panel 9, for example, can beimplemented by an in-cell type or on-cell type touch display panelintegrated with fingerprint sensing, wherein the display panel 9, thetouch sensor 93, and the fingerprint sensor 95 are integrated in alayered manner or any appropriate manner. The touch sensor 93 may beimplemented by using a capacitive touch sensor 93 in a form of touchsensing array. The fingerprint sensor 95, for example, can beimplemented by an optical fingerprint sensor, capacitive fingerprintsensor, ultrasonic fingerprint sensor, or any device for sensingfingerprint signals. In some embodiments, the fingerprint sensor 95 maybe implemented to detect at least one portion of the viewable area ofimage displaying by the display panel 91. In a preferred embodiment, thefingerprint sensor 95 is a full-screen fingerprint sensor, which cancover a same area substantially for image displaying of the displaymodule 91 and for touch sensing of the touch sensor 93. Certainly, theimplementation of the invention is not limited to the above examples.

The single chip 10 capable of achieving touch sensing enhancement can beutilized to be coupled to the display panel 9 with the touch sensor 93and the fingerprint sensor 95. In FIG. 1, the single chip 10 can includea touch sensing circuit 110, a fingerprint sensing module 12, and acontrol unit 112. In an embodiment, the control unit 112 and the touchsensing circuit 110 may be implemented or viewed as a touch sensingmodule 11. From the viewpoint of the processing unit 5, the single chip10 may serve as a “bridge” between the display panel 9 and theprocessing unit 5. The processing unit 5 may be configured to controlthe single chip 10 so as to obtain output touch data and/or outputfingerprint data. It is noted although a single chip is illustrated inthe embodiment, in other implementations, multiple chips can beimplemented according to design requirements. For example, in someembodiments, the touch sensing module and the fingerprint sensing modulecan be implemented as different chips.

The touch sensing circuit 110 can be utilized for being coupled to thetouch sensor 93 and obtaining touch sensing data. For example, the touchsensing circuit 110 may include a touch analog front end (AFE) circuitfor converting analog touch signals received from the touch sensor 93into corresponding digital touch data, such as a set of raw touch dataassociated with and distributed over an area on the screen of thedisplay panel 9 where at least one touch is detected. The touch sensingdata can be further obtained based on the digital touch data, forexample, by the control unit 112.

The fingerprint sensing module 12 can be utilized for being coupled tothe fingerprint sensor 95 and obtaining fingerprint sensing data. Forexample, the fingerprint sensing module 12 may be implemented forconverting fingerprint signals received from the fingerprint sensor 95into corresponding digital fingerprint data, such as a set of rawfingerprint data associated with and distributed over an area on thescreen of the display panel 9 where a fingerprint (or a portion of afingerprint) is detected. The fingerprint sensing data can be furtherobtained based on the digital fingerprint data, for example, by thefingerprint sensing module 12 or the control unit 112.

The control unit 112 can be coupled to the touch sensing circuit 110 andthe fingerprint sensing module 12. In an example, the control unit 112can obtain the touch sensing data based on the digital touch dataoutputted by the touch sensing circuit 110.

Referring to FIG. 2, another embodiment of a single chip capable ofachieving touch sensing enhancement is illustrated in block diagramform. As shown in FIG. 2, a single chip 10A, as an embodiment based onthe single chip 10 in FIG. 1, includes a touch sensing module 11 and afingerprint sensing module 12A. The fingerprint sensing module 12A mayinclude a fingerprint sensing circuit 120 and a control unit 122 forfingerprint sensing.

For example, the fingerprint sensing circuit 120 may include afingerprint analog front end (AFE) circuit for converting fingerprintsignals received from the fingerprint sensor 95 into correspondingdigital fingerprint data, such as a set of raw fingerprint dataassociated with and distributed over an area where a fingerprint (or aportion of a fingerprint) is detected. The fingerprint sensing data canbe further obtained based on the digital fingerprint data, for example,by the control unit 122.

The control unit 122, coupled to the fingerprint sensing circuit 120 andthe touch sensing module 11, can be utilized for fingerprint sensing,for example, to generate fingerprint sensing data based on the digitalfingerprint data.

In the above examples, the touch sensing circuit 110 or fingerprintsensing circuit 120 may include an analog front end circuit implementedby circuit components such as a low-noise amplifier, ananalog-to-digital converter. In the above examples, the control unit 112or 122 may be complemented by using a processor, microcontroller, orprogrammable circuit such as field-programmable gate array (FPGA) orapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC). In an example, thecontrol units 112 and 122 can be implemented by using a single controlunit. Certainly, the implementation of the invention is not limited tothe above examples.

Referring to FIG. 3, an example of touch sensing data is illustrated inschematic form. As shown in FIG. 3, the display panel 9 has a screenarea 300 within which a plurality of small blocks are illustratedschematically to indicate an array of touch sensing elements of thetouch sensor 93 corresponding to the touch sensing resolution (e.g.,18×36). When a touch is detected on the screen area 300, an area 310(e.g., 5×5) within the screen area 300 can be determined and representedby using the touch sensing data that may include a plurality of touchsensing values associated with positions in the area 310. As shown inFIG. 3, a block 320 illustrates an enlarged version of the area 310,indicating the touch sensing values associated with positions in thearea 310. In addition, in FIG. 3 or other relevant Figures, the sensingvalues within the block 320 (or other block) are shown for the sake ofillustration only; the greater the sensing value (e.g., touch sensing orfingerprint sensing value) is, the greater the detected magnitude (e.g.,touch or fingerprint) is. Certainly, the implementation of the inventionis not limited to the examples.

The area 310 (e.g., 5×5) within the screen area 300 of FIG. 3 can alsobe associated with the fingerprint sensing data, as indicated by a block410 in FIG. 4, for example. As shown in FIG. 4, the block 410illustrates the fingerprint sensing data that may include a plurality offingerprint sensing values which are associated with positions in thearea 310 of FIG. 3, for example, in different resolution. In the exampleof FIGS. 3 and 4, with respect to the area 310, the touch sensing dataof A1 by A2 (e.g., 5×5) is associated with the fingerprint sensing dataof B1 by B2 (e.g., 15×15), wherein A1 and A2 indicate the same ordifferent numbers; B1 and B2 indicate the same or different numbers. Thefingerprint sensing resolution may be greater than or equal to the touchsensing resolution. In addition, for the sake of illustration only, somefingerprint sensing values with relatively greater values are shown withan imaginary boundary in bold within the block 410 to indicate that thefingerprint sensing values within the imaginary boundary may correspondto a touch point. Certainly, the implementation of the invention is notlimited to the examples.

Referring to FIG. 5, a method for touch sensing enhancement isillustrated according to an embodiment in flowchart form. The method fortouch sensing enhancement is implemented in a single chip, such as thesingle chip 10 or 10A exemplified above, which is used to be coupled toa display panel 9 with a touch sensor 93 and a fingerprint sensor 95. Asshown in FIG. 5, the method includes the following steps.

As indicated by step S10, touch sensing data is obtained by a touchsensing module 11 disposed within the single chip 10 and coupled to thetouch sensor 93. The touch sensing data is illustrated in FIG. 3, forexample.

As indicated by step S20, fingerprint sensing data is obtained by afingerprint sensing module 12 disposed within the single chip 10 andcoupled to the fingerprint sensor 95. The fingerprint sensing data isillustrated in FIG. 4, for example.

As indicated by step S30, output touch data is generated based on thetouch sensing data and the fingerprint sensing data. The step S30 can beperformed by the control unit 112, for example.

As such, touch sensing enhancement can be achieved with the contributionof the fingerprint sensing data. For example, if the output touch dataincludes a position, such as coordinates, indicating a touch point, thecoordinates can be obtained more accurately with the contribution of thefingerprint sensing data as in step S30. In another example formulti-touch operations, if the output touch data includes a plurality ofpositions, such as coordinates, indicating a plurality of touch pointscorrespondingly, the touch points can be distinguished more accuratelywith the contribution of the fingerprint sensing data as in step S30.

In an embodiment, the fingerprint sensing data is obtained in step S20when the display panel 9 does not show any request for a user to input afingerprint. For example, step S20 is performed because the touchsensing enhancement is required in the single chip 10 or 10A internallyand hence the processing unit 5 does not control the display panel 9 toshow any request message for a user to input a fingerprint.

In an embodiment, the obtaining of the fingerprint sensing data isperformed after user identification recognition is completed (i.e., auser has been authenticated) or which even can be irrelevant to useridentification recognition. In other words, the fingerprint sensing datacan be used to contribute to generating touch data and may enhance theaccuracy of the touch data. For example, the fingerprint sensing dataobtained in step S20 can be used in step S30 for touch sensingenhancement implemented in the single chip 10 or 10A internally whilethe processing unit 5 does not require the single chip 10 or 10A toprovide output fingerprint data for user identification recognition.This may occur after the computing device 1 has been unlocked such thata user is authorized to operate the computing device 1.

In some embodiments of the method of FIG. 5, step S20 is performed onlywhen at least one criterion is satisfied. In one of the embodiments, themethod further includes requesting the fingerprint sensing data from thefingerprint sensing module 12 when the touch sensing data indicates atouch event. For example, the control unit 112 can send a request to thefingerprint sensing module 12 for the fingerprint sensing data when thetouch sensing data indicates a touch event. Conversely, when the touchsensing data does not indicate a touch event, the control unit 112cannot send the request to the fingerprint sensing module 12. In thismanner, the fingerprint sensing data can be utilized to enhance thegeneration of output touch data, more efficiently and effectively. Insome embodiments, the method further includes determining that the touchsensing data indicates the touch event when the touch sensing dataexceeds a threshold value. For example, it is supposed that the touchsensing data indicates a plurality of touch sensing values associatedwith positions in an area where a touch is detected (e.g., area 310 ofFIG. 3), the touch sensing data can be represented by an average of thetouch sensing values and the control unit 112 can determine that thetouch sensing data indicates the touch event when the average of thetouch sensing values exceeds a corresponding threshold value. In anotherexample, the control unit 112 can determine that the touch sensing dataindicates a touch event when one or more of the touch sensing valuesexceeds a threshold value.

In some embodiments, the fingerprint sensing resolution is greater thanthe touch sensing resolution. The fingerprint sensing resolution can beadjusted to match the touch sensing resolution, by hardware (forexample, by adjusting the operation of the fingerprint sensor) or bysoftware (for example, by processing the fingerprint sensing data). Forexample, in the example of FIGS. 3 and 4, with respect to the area 310,the touch sensing data of A1 by A2 (e.g., 5×5) is associated with thefingerprint sensing data of B1 by B2 (e.g., 15×15). Referring to FIG.6A, in an example, the fingerprint sensing resolution of 1080×2160,indicated by a block 600, is greater than the touch sensing resolutionof 18×36, indicated by a block 300. Any one of the positions of touchsensing in the block 300 may be associated with at most 60×60corresponding positions of fingerprint sensing in the block 600. Inorder to reduce the complexity of association between a touch sensingposition and fingerprint sensing positions, a grouping technique may beemployed. Referring to FIG. 6B, an example of association between atouch data node (e.g., indicated by a block 301) and a plurality offingerprint data nodes (e.g., indicated by 3×3 blocks 610) isillustrated in accordance with the example of FIG. 6A. In FIG. 6B, eachfingerprint data node, indicated by block 610, is associated with aplurality of fingerprint sensing elements (e.g., 20×20). In other words,a plurality of fingerprint sensing elements (e.g., 20×20) or positionscan be grouped as a fingerprint data node associated with a touch datanode (or touch sensing element) or position. In this manner,simplification of signal or data processing and fast processing speedcan be achieved.

In one of the embodiments, the step S20 of obtaining the fingerprintsensing data includes converting the fingerprint sensing data from afirst domain corresponding to a fingerprint sensing resolution to asecond domain corresponding to a touch sensing resolution (e.g., block300 of 18×36). Taken the above examples in FIGS. 6A and 6B, an exampleof the first domain corresponding to a fingerprint sensing resolution isshown in the block 600 of resolution of 1080×2160 in FIG. 6A, and thesecond domain is a fingerprint sensing resolution of 54×108corresponding to the touch sensing resolution as shown in the block 300of 18×36 by downscaling the resolution of the block 600 in terms of20×20 fingerprint sensing elements as a fingerprint data node, indicatedby the block 610 in FIG. 6B. In this manner, simplification of signal ordata processing can be achieved while the accuracy can be enhanced withthe contribution of the fingerprint sensing data in a relative higherresolution, even though being downscaled.

In an embodiment, the step of obtaining the fingerprint sensing dataincludes controlling the fingerprint sensor 95 to have a fingerprintsensing resolution equal to a touch sensing resolution. For example, thefingerprint sensor 95 is supposed to have adjustable resolution functionand the control unit 112 may send a control signal to the fingerprintsensing module 12 to control the fingerprint sensor 95 to have afingerprint sensing resolution equal to a touch sensing resolution.

In another embodiment, the fingerprint sensor 95 can have a lowerfingerprint sensing resolution. For example, the fingerprint sensingelements can be divided into a plurality of groups (e.g., N×M elementsfor a group, where N and M may be equal or different numbers), and eachgroup is connected to a corresponding analog front end circuit in thefingerprint sensing module 12 or 12A so as to lower the fingerprintsensing resolution, and thus faster processing or power saving can beachieved.

In an embodiment of step S20, the fingerprint sensing module 12 or thefingerprint sensing circuit 120 may include a plurality of analog frontend circuits, each of which can be configured to be coupled to aplurality of fingerprint sensing elements of the fingerprint sensor 95so as to obtain a fingerprint signal.

In the following, embodiments of the method for touch sensingenhancement implemented in a single chip 10 are provided for enhancingaccuracy of determining one or more touch points.

In a scenario of a computing device 1 such as a smart phone being notheld by human's hand, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) may reduce due tono common ground for the smart phone in contrast to the situation of thesmart phone being held. In particular, if the display panel 9 is acapacitive touch display panel 9 and the single chip 10 is configured togenerate a position of a touch point, the coordinates of the touch pointderived from signals from the touch sensor 93 (or detected by the touchsensor 93) may be sensitive to or affected by noise, leading toinaccuracy or jitter of the touch point. Accordingly, in the followingembodiments, the position of the touch point is generated based on thetouch sensing data and the fingerprint sensing data so as to enhance theaccuracy of the position with the contribution of the fingerprintsensing data.

In some embodiments, the output touch data includes a positionindicating a touch point. In one of the embodiments, the positionindicating the touch point is determined based on the touch sensing dataand the fingerprint sensing data.

In another one of the embodiments, the touch sensing data includes afirst position detected by, or derived from signals from, the touchsensor 93, the fingerprint sensing data includes a second positiondetected by, or derived from signals from, the fingerprint sensor 95,and the position indicating the touch point is determined according tothe first position and the second position. Alternatively, in one of theembodiments, in step S30 of the method of FIG. 5, a first positiondetected by, or derived from signals from, the touch sensor 93 isdetermined based on the touch sensing data, a second position detectedby, or derived from signals from, the fingerprint sensor 95 isdetermined based on the fingerprint sensing data, and the positionindicating the touch point is determined according to the first positionand the second position. Examples regarding implementation of theembodiments are provided below.

For example, the first position, second position can be determined byway of calculation of a representative point, such as a centroid orcenter of mass of a set of data. For the sake of illustrating thecalculation of a centroid of a data set, referring to FIG. 7, it issupposed an image 701 as a data set is on an area 700 with a coordinatessystem of Index_X and Index_Y as illustrated. The coordinates of acentroid (or center of mass) of the image 701, denoted by P=(X,Y), canbe defined by the following equation (1):P=(X,Y)=(Numerator_X/Denominator,Numerator_Y/Denominator),  Eq. (1)wherein D(x,y) represents a gray level value associated with thecoordinates (x,y) of one of the pixels of the image 701,

Denominator=ΣD(x,y), i.e., a summation of D(x,y) for all pixels of theimage 701;

Numerator_X=Index_X*D(x,y); and

Numerator_Y=Index_Y*D(x,y).

Regarding the image 701 in FIG. 7, for example, it is determined that:

-   Denominator=D(2,2)+D(3,2)+D(4,2)+ . . . +D(5,5);-   Numerator_X=2*D(2,2)+3*D(3,2)+4*D(4,2)+ . . . +5*D(5,5); and-   Numerator_Y=2*D(2,2)+2*D(3,2)+2*D(4,2)+ . . . +5*D(5,5).

With respect to the touch sensing data derived from signals detected bythe touch sensor 93, the touch sensing values (e.g., indicated by theblock 320 of FIG. 3) can be viewed as an image and the coordinates of arepresentative point of the touch sensing values can be determined bythe equation (1) in a similar manner. Hence, the coordinates of therepresentative point of the touch sensing values obtained by usingequation (1), denoted by Pt=(Xt, Yt), can be treated as a first positiondetected by the touch sensor 93.

With respect to the fingerprint sensing data derived from signalsdetected by the fingerprint sensor 95, the fingerprint sensing values(e.g., indicated by the block 410 of FIG. 4) can be viewed as an imageand the coordinates of a representative point of the fingerprint sensingvalues can be determined by the equation (1) in a similar manner. Hence,the coordinates of the representative point of the fingerprint sensingvalues obtained by using equation (1), denoted by Pf=(Xf, Yf), can betreated as a second position detected by the fingerprint sensor 95.

Accordingly, the position indicating a touch point, indicated by P=(X,Y), can be determined according to the first position (e.g., Pt=(Xt,Yt)) and the second position (e.g., Pf=(Xf, Yf)).

In some embodiments, the position indicating the touch point is aweighted averaged position of the first position and the secondposition. For example, the position indicating the touch point (e.g.,P=(X, Y)) can be determined according to the following equation (2):P=(X,Y)=((1−w)*Xt+w*Xf,(1−w)*Yt+w*Yf),  Eq. (2)where w is a positive real value and 0<w≤1, provided that thefingerprint sensing resolution is equal to the touch sensing resolution.For example, if w is taken as 0.5, the position indicating the touchpoint can be determined based on the coordinates of (0.5*(Xt+Xf),0.5*(Yt+Yf)) in accordance with the equation (2).

In addition, if the fingerprint sensing resolution is greater than thetouch sensing resolution, the coordinates of the representative point ofthe fingerprint sensing values obtained by using equation (1), denotedby Pf=(Xf, Yf), or the second position, is required to be downscaled tothe touch sensing domain.

Referring to FIG. 8, conversion of the coordinates between the touchsensing data and the fingerprint sensing data is illustrated inschematic form according to an embodiment. As shown in FIG. 8, blocks Tindicating 3 touch data nodes are illustrated under the touch sensingresolution. Blocks F1 indicating 6 fingerprint data nodes areillustrated under a first fingerprint sensing resolution which is twotimes greater than the touch sensing resolution in value; and blocks F2indicating 8 fingerprint data nodes are illustrated under a secondfingerprint sensing resolution which is three times greater than thetouch sensing resolution in value. In accordance with relationships ofthe resolutions shown in FIG. 8 in the X-axis direction, x-coordinate ina fingerprint sensing domain, denoted by Xf, can be converted to ordownscaled to x-coordinate in a touch sensing domain, denoted by Xfd, bythe following equation (3):Xfd=(Xf+0.5)/SL−0.5,  Eq. (3)where SL denotes a ratio of the fingerprint sensing resolution to thetouch sensing resolution in value. Further, the relationship forconversion or downscaling of y-coordinate in a fingerprint sensingdomain to y-coordinate in a touch sensing domain can be derived in asimilar manner. For brevity sake, the details will not be repeated.Certainly, the implementation of the invention is not limited to theabove examples.

Thus, if the fingerprint sensing resolution is greater than the touchsensing resolution, the position indicating the touch point (e.g., P=(X,Y)) can be determined according to the first position (e.g., Pt=(Xt,Yt)) and the second position (e.g., Pf=(Xf, Yf)) which is downscaled tothe touch sensing domain.

As such, in the above embodiments, the position of a touch point can begenerated based on the touch sensing data and the fingerprint sensingdata. The position of the touch point can be generated accurately withthe contribution of the fingerprint sensing data. In a scenario ofpractical application for a computing device 1, such as smart phone,based on FIG. 1, a touch point by the user can be precisely determinedbased on the touch sensing data and the fingerprint sensing data, eventhough the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of touch sensing may reduce in asituation that the user does not hold the smart phone or the touchsensor 93 may be sensitive to noise.

For implementation of the above embodiments related to the method ofFIG. 5 in the single chip 10 based on FIG. 1 or FIG. 2, the positionindicating the touch point can be determined by the touch sensing module11, such as the control unit 112, for example. The first position andsecond position can be determined by the touch sensing module 11 andfingerprint sensing module 12, respectively, for example. Alternatively,the first position, second position, position indicating the touch pointcan be determined by the touch sensing module 11, such as the controlunit 112, for example.

In some scenarios, the user may perform multi-touch operations on thedisplay panel 9 of the computing device 1. The following providesembodiments based on the method of FIG. 5 to enhance the touch sensingfor multi-touch operations.

In some embodiments, the output touch data may include a plurality ofpositions indicating a plurality of touch points correspondingly.Examples regarding implementation of the embodiments are provided below,wherein the fingerprint sensing resolution is greater than the touchsensing resolution.

In an embodiment based on the method of FIG. 5, the step S30 can beimplemented by a process including steps S310-S330, as shown in FIG. 9.

As indicated in step S310, a plurality of fingerprint data regions inthe fingerprint sensing data are determined according to the fingerprintsensing data.

As indicated in step S320, a plurality of touch data regions in thetouch sensing data are determined according to the fingerprint dataregions.

As indicated in step S330, the output touch data is determined at leastbased on at least one of the touch data regions.

As such, the process as shown in FIG. 9 can be employed in a scenario ofpractical application for a computing device 1, such as smart phone,based on FIG. 1, multi-touch points by the user can be determinedaccurately based on the touch sensing data and the fingerprint sensingdata, even though the multi-touch points may not be distinguished byusing the touch sensing data.

For the sake of illustration, it is supposed that two fingers of theuser touches the display panel 9, and the single chip 10 producesinternally the touch sensing data as indicated in FIG. 10 and thefingerprint sensing data as indicated in FIG. 11, for example, whereinthe touch sensing data and fingerprint sensing data correspond to a samearea on the screen area of the display panel 9. In FIG. 10, the touchsensing values of the touch sensing data, indicated by a block 910, donot indicate any data “valley” (e.g., a local minimum value occursbetween two peak values) that can be used for data segmentation. As onecan observe in FIG. 10, a curve 915 shows the touch sensing values takenalong a middle column indicated by an arrow 911 and varies smoothly andmaintains relative high values in the middle section of the curve 915.In this situation, the touch sensing data may not indicate the valleysignificantly due to touch sensing resolution, and hence one region forobtaining coordinates of one touch position may be obtained if datasegmentation is performed on the touch sensing data only. As such, thetouch sensing data seems to indicate the characteristic of a singletouch and thus the computing device 1 may determine an incorrect touchevent, not corresponding to the one that the user would expect.

By contrast, referring to FIG. 11, the fingerprint sensing values of thefingerprint sensing data, indicated by a block 920, indicate a data“valley” apparently that can be used for data segmentation. As one canobserve in FIG. 11, a curve 925 shows the fingerprint sensing valuestaken along a middle column indicated by an arrow 921 and includes adata “valley,” for example, a point 926, indicating a fingerprintsensing value of 429, between two peak values in the middle section ofthe curve 925. Hence, the fingerprint sensing data shows thecharacteristic of multi-touch more accurately. In the above scenario,fingerprint sensing data indicates the valley(s) more significantly dueto the fingerprint sensing resolution higher than the touch sensingresolution, and two or more corresponding regions can be derived whendata segmentation is performed on the fingerprint sensing data,resulting in two or more touch positions and/or corresponding touchinformation.

By implementing step S30 using the process in FIG. 9, the method of FIG.5 can be further employed to facilitate the data segmentation of thetouch sensing data, with the contribution of the fingerprint sensingdata. In an example of step S310, a boundary row, indicated by an arrow922, passing through the data valley (e.g., the point 926) can bedetermined and divides the fingerprint sensing data into two fingerprintdata regions (e.g., an upper portion and a lower portion of the block920). In an example of step S320, the touch sensing data (indicated bythe block 910) can also be divided into two corresponding touch dataregions (e.g., an upper portion and a lower portion of the block 910) byutilizing a boundary row, indicated by an arrow 912, that can be derivedfrom the boundary row, indicated by the arrow 922. In step S330, theoutput touch data can then be determined at least based on at least oneof the touch data regions; that is, at least based on one or more of thetouch data regions, at least based on at least one of the touch dataregions and at least one of the fingerprint data regions, or at leastbased on the touch data regions and fingerprint data regions. In thismanner, the single chip 10 that implements the method based on FIGS. 5and 9 can provide the output touch data associated with multi-touchoperations more accurately.

In other words, one or more touch points (or touch positions) can beidentified in various cases, even though the touch sensing data maymerely indicate a single touch data region and a single touch pointwhile the fingerprint sensing data may indicate a number of touch dataregions. Thus, the synergy of using the touch sensing data and thefingerprint sensing data can facilitate more accurate results ofdetermination of touch events.

In some embodiments, step S330 may include the step of determining aposition at least based on one of the touch data regions, or at leastbased on one of the touch data regions and a corresponding one of thefingerprint data regions, wherein the output touch data includes theposition. For example, for one or more of the touch data regionsdetermined in step S320 (e.g., the upper portion and lower portion ofthe block 910 with respect to the boundary row indicated by an arrow 912shown in FIG. 10), a position indicating a touch point in acorresponding one of the touch data regions can be determined based onthe corresponding one of the touch data regions, or at least based onthe corresponding one of the touch data regions and a corresponding oneof the fingerprint data regions. For example, a respective position foreach of the touch data regions can be determined, based on acorresponding one of the touch data regions, wherein the output touchdata includes the respective position for each of the touch dataregions. In the example shown in FIG. 11, two touch data regionsincluding respective touch points can be determined accordingly. Forimplementation of the determination of the positions of the touchpoints, the above examples of determination of a representative pointbased on the equation (1), and/or (3) (as exemplified in FIG. 7 or 8)can be employed for each of the touch data regions. As such, the touchpoints of the user's multi-touch operation can be determined accuratelyand then multi-touch events can be determined more accurately. In someembodiments, the step S30 or S330 may be implemented additional oralternatively to provide the output touch data including one or moremulti-touch parameters, such as distance between two touch points, sizeof the touch data region, and so on. For example, if any two touchpoints are determined (e.g., in the example shown in FIGS. 10 and 11), adistance (such as Euclidean distance, city block distance, or chessboarddistance) between the positions of the two touch points can then bedetermined. In another example, when one of the touch data regions isdetermined, an area or size of that touch region can also be determined.Certainly, the implementation of the invention is not limited to theexamples.

The following provides examples of data segmentation that may beemployed in step S310 or S320. For example, a watershed algorithm forimage segmentation may be employed to divide the fingerprint sensingdata into a number of fingerprint data regions in accordance with therelations between any valley and peak found in the fingerprint sensingdata. For example, a criterion, described in pseudo code shown in TABLE1, may be taken in using an implementation of the watershed algorithmfor step S310 or S320.

TABLE 1 Criterion in pseudo code Comments IF ( valley / min(peak0,peak1) < If a valley divided by a minimum threshold), of peaks such aspeak0 and peak1 THEN is less than a threshold, the peaks Label(peak0,peak1, 2); are to be labeled by function ELSE Label( ) as in tworegions; or else Label(peak0, peak1, 1); the peaks are to be labeled byfunction Label( ) as in a same region.In the above example in TABLE 1, “peak0” and “peak1” indicate two localmaximum values and “valley” is a local minimum value corresponding to aposition located adjacent to those of the two local maximum values. Ifthe threshold is set to 90% and the fingerprint sensing data exemplifiedin FIG. 11 is taken, then valley=429, peak0=482, peak1=481,valley/min(peak0, peak1)=429/481=89.2%<90%, leading to the criterionsatisfied. In this case, it is determined that the fingerprint sensingdata have the two peaks and can be labeled as having two regions, asillustrated in FIG. 12. In FIG. 12, the block 920 including a pluralityof fingerprint data nodes is illustrated with a first portion 931 of thefingerprint data nodes labeled as 0 and a second portion 932 of thefingerprint data nodes labeled as 1. For implementation of the labeling,the function Label( ) may be configured to find one or more boundariesfor partitioning of the fingerprint sensing data (e.g., the boundary rowindicated by the arrow 922), and partition the fingerprint sensing datainto the fingerprint data regions by assigning corresponding labelvalues (e.g., 0, 1 and so on) to the fingerprint data nodes in thefingerprint sensing data, for example. Referring to FIG. 12, eachfingerprint data node is then associated with at least a position (e.g.,coordinates Index_X and Index_Y), a fingerprint sensing value, and alabel. Certainly, the implementation of the invention is not limited tothe examples.

In an embodiment of step S320, touch data regions in the touch sensingdata can be determined based on the fingerprint data regions and theassociation between the touch data node and fingerprint data nodes. Forexample, referring to FIGS. 10 and 11, one touch data node of the touchsensing data indicated by the block 910 is associated with 3×3fingerprint data nodes of the fingerprint sensing data indicated by theblock 920. In this way, as illustrated in FIG. 13, each group of 3×3fingerprint data nodes (e.g., those indicated by a block 941) isassociated with one of touch data nodes and the one of touch data nodes(e.g., one indicated by a block 942) can be assigned a label accordingto the labels that the associated group of fingerprint data nodes have(e.g., 0).

In an embodiment, a representative label can be obtained by taking aspecific position, such as a center, corner, and so on, of each group offingerprint data nodes and assigned to the associated touch data node.This approach is efficient. To be more precise, in another embodiment, arepresentative label can be determined for each group of fingerprintdata nodes by counting which label exists the most of the times. Forexample, the label 0 occurs in the group of fingerprint data nodes(e.g., those indicated by a block 941) for 9 times so that therepresentative label is the label 0 and the touch data node (e.g., oneindicated by a block 942) can be assigned the label 0. In anotherexample, the touch data node (e.g., one indicated by a block 944) can beassigned a label 0 because the label 0 occurs in the group offingerprint data nodes (e.g., those indicated by a block 943) for 6times and the label 1 occurs for 3 times. In another embodiment, if twolabels occur the same times in the group of fingerprint data nodes, theassociated touch data node can be assigned a representative label thatis taken from the label of a center of the group of fingerprint datanodes. Certainly, the implementation of the invention is not limited tothe above examples.

The above embodiments for determining the representative label for beingassigned to the associated touch sensing node can be utilized when thenumber of fingerprint sensing regions is two, three or above. Referringto FIG. 14, it is supposed that the fingerprint sensing data, indicatedby a block 920, in an example, is partitioned into three or morefingerprint data regions, which may be in arbitrary form. In an example,for the sake of illustration, it is supposed that three labels 0, 1, and2 occur in a group of fingerprint data nodes (e.g., those indicated by ablock 951). In this situation, a representative label can be obtainedfor each group of fingerprint data nodes by counting which label existsthe most of the times. In an example, if the labels 0, 1, and 2 occur inthe group of fingerprint data nodes (e.g., those indicated by the block951) for the same number of times, the associated touch data node (e.g.,one indicated by a block 952) can be assigned a representative label(e.g., 1) that is taken from the label of a center of the group offingerprint data nodes (e.g., those indicated by the block 951).Certainly, the implementation of the invention is not limited to theabove examples.

Further, the single chip capable of achieving touch sensing enhancementas exemplified above can be integrated with a display driving module.Referring to FIG. 15, a single chip 10B capable of achieving touchsensing enhancement is illustrated according to another embodiment ofthe invention in block diagram form. As shown in FIG. 15, the singlechip 10B can be based on FIG. 1 or 2 and further includes a displaydriving module 19, which is coupled to the touch sensing module 11 andthe fingerprint sensing module 12 internally in the single chip 10B; andthe display driving module 19 is utilized for being coupled to thedisplay module 91 of the display panel 9 for driving the display module91 to display images. In an embodiment for the display panel 9 with afingerprint sensor 95 which is an optical fingerprint scanner, forexample, when a touch event is detected by the touch sensing module 11,the touch sensing module 11 can inform the display driving module 19 ofan area that the touch event occurs. In some implementations, thedisplay driving module 19 may drive the display module 91 to emit lightor an image pattern for exposure of the area. In the meantime, the touchsensing module 11 can inform the fingerprint sensing module 12 foractivating the fingerprint sensing elements (e.g., optical sensingelements) corresponding to the area for fingerprint detection so as toobtain fingerprint sensing data. The fingerprint sensing data can beutilized internally in the single chip 10B in accordance with the methodbased on FIG. 5 as exemplified in one of the above embodiments. For thefingerprint sensor being other type such as capacitive fingerprintsensor, ultrasonic fingerprint sensor, the single chip 10B may beimplemented to operate in a manner wherever appropriate. Certainly, theimplementation of the invention is not limited to the above examples. Itis also noted that different implementations may be made to integrate orseparate the different modules as one or more circuits. For example, thedisplay driving module and the touch sensing module can be integrated asa circuit, and the fingerprint sensing module can be implemented asanother circuit which can be further totally or partially separated fromor integrated with the circuit of the display driving module and thetouch sensing module.

While the present disclosure has been described by means of specificembodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made theretoby those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spiritof the present disclosure set forth in the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for touch sensing enhancementimplemented in a single chip, wherein the single chip is used to becoupled to a display panel with a touch sensor and a fingerprint sensor,the method comprising: obtaining touch sensing data by a touch sensingmodule disposed within the single chip and coupled to the touch sensor;determining that the touch sensing data indicates a touch eventaccording to a comparison between the touch sensing data and a thresholdvalue, wherein the touch sensing data indicates touch sensing valuesassociated with positions in a first area, and the first areacorresponds to a reduced portion within a screen area of the displaypanel and the touch event occurs in the first area; in response to thetouch event, requesting fingerprint sensing data from a fingerprintsensing module disposed within the single chip and coupled to thefingerprint sensor, wherein the fingerprint sensor and the touch sensorare of full screen size and cover the screen area of the display panel,and the touch sensing module informs the fingerprint sensing module foractivating a portion of the fingerprint sensor for fingerprintdetection, the portion of the fingerprint sensor corresponding to thefirst area; in response to the touch event, obtaining the fingerprintsensing data corresponding to the first area by the fingerprint sensingmodule disposed within the single chip and coupled to the fingerprintsensor; and in response to the touch event, generating, by the singlechip, output touch data with respect to the touch event based on thetouch sensing data and the fingerprint sensing data both correspondingto the first area for touch sensing enhancement with the display panelhaving both the touch sensor and the fingerprint sensor of full screensize.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the fingerprintsensing data is obtained when the display panel does not show anyrequest for a fingerprint.
 3. The method according to claim 2, whereinthe fingerprint sensing data is obtained and used internally in thesingle chip for touch sensing enhancement, after user identificationrecognition is completed.
 4. The method according to claim 1, furthercomprising: determining that the touch sensing data indicates the touchevent when the touch sensing data exceeds the threshold value.
 5. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein the step of obtaining thefingerprint sensing data comprises converting the fingerprint sensingdata from a first domain corresponding to a fingerprint sensingresolution to a second domain corresponding to a touch sensingresolution.
 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step ofobtaining the fingerprint sensing data comprises controlling thefingerprint sensor to have a fingerprint sensing resolution equal to atouch sensing resolution.
 7. The method according to claim 1, whereinthe output touch data includes a position indicating a touch point. 8.The method according to claim 7, wherein the position indicating thetouch point is determined based on the touch sensing data and thefingerprint sensing data.
 9. The method according to claim 8, whereinthe touch sensing data includes a first position detected by the touchsensor, the fingerprint sensing data includes a second position detectedby the fingerprint sensor, and the position indicating the touch pointis determined according to the first position and the second position.10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the position indicating thetouch point is a weighted averaged position of the first position andthe second position.
 11. The method according to claim 1, wherein theoutput touch data includes a plurality of positions indicating aplurality of touch points correspondingly.
 12. The method according toclaim 1, wherein the step of generating output touch data based on thetouch sensing data and the fingerprint sensing data includes:determining a plurality of fingerprint data regions in the fingerprintsensing data according to the fingerprint sensing data; determining aplurality of touch data regions in the touch sensing data according tothe fingerprint data regions; and determining the output touch data atleast based on at least one of the touch data regions.
 13. The methodaccording to claim 12, wherein the step of determining the output touchdata includes: determining a corresponding position for each one of thetouch data regions based on the one of the touch data regions, whereinthe output touch data includes the corresponding position for each oneof the touch data regions.
 14. A single chip capable of achieving touchsensing enhancement, wherein the single chip is used to be coupled to adisplay panel with a touch sensor and a fingerprint sensor, the singlechip comprising: a touch sensing circuit for being coupled to the touchsensor and obtaining touch sensing data; a fingerprint sensing modulefor being coupled to the touch sensor and obtaining fingerprint sensingdata; and a control unit, coupled to the touch sensing circuit and thefingerprint sensing module, for generating output touch data based onthe touch sensing data and the fingerprint sensing data, wherein thecontrol unit determines that the touch sensing data indicates a touchevent according to a comparison between the touch sensing data and athreshold value, wherein the touch sensing data indicates touch sensingvalues associated with positions in a first area, and the first areacorresponds to a reduced portion within a screen area of the displaypanel and the touch event occurs in the first area; wherein thefingerprint sensor and the touch sensor are of full screen size andcover the screen area of the display panel, in response to the touchevent, the control unit informs the fingerprint sensing module foractivating a portion of the fingerprint sensor for fingerprintdetection, the portion of the fingerprint sensor corresponding to thefirst area, in response to the touch event, the fingerprint sensingmodule obtains the fingerprint sensing data corresponding to the firstarea, and in response to the touch event, the control unit generates theoutput touch data with respect to the touch event based on the touchsensing data and the fingerprint sensing data both corresponding to thefirst area for touch sensing enhancement with the display panel havingboth the touch sensor and the fingerprint sensor of full screen size.15. The single chip according to claim 14, wherein the fingerprintsensing data is obtained when a display panel does not show any requestfor a fingerprint.
 16. The single chip according to claim 15, whereinthe fingerprint sensing data is obtained and used internally in thesingle chip for touch sensing enhancement, after user identificationrecognition is completed.
 17. The single chip according to claim 14,wherein the control unit is configured to determine that the touchsensing data indicates the touch event when the touch sensing dataexceeds the threshold value.
 18. The single chip according to claim 14,wherein the fingerprint sensing data is converted from a first domaincorresponding to a fingerprint sensing resolution to a second domaincorresponding to a touch sensing resolution.
 19. The single chipaccording to claim 14, wherein the control unit is configured to controlthe fingerprint sensor to have a fingerprint sensing resolution equal toa touch sensing resolution.
 20. The single chip according to claim 14,wherein the output touch data includes a position indicating a touchpoint.
 21. The single chip according to claim 20, wherein the controlunit is configured to determine the position based on the touch sensingdata and the fingerprint sensing data.
 22. The single chip according toclaim 21, wherein the touch sensing data includes a first positiondetected by the touch sensor, the fingerprint sensing data includes asecond position detected by the fingerprint sensor, and the positionindicating the touch point is determined according to the first positionand the second position.
 23. The single chip according to claim 22,wherein the position indicating the touch point is a weighted averagedposition of the first position and the second position.
 24. The singlechip according to claim 14, wherein the output touch data includes aplurality of positions indicating a plurality of touch pointscorrespondingly.
 25. The single chip according to claim 14, wherein thecontrol unit is configured to determine a plurality of touch dataregions in the touch sensing data according to the fingerprint sensingdata, and determines the output touch data at least based on the touchdata regions.
 26. The single chip according to claim 25, wherein thecontrol unit is configured to determine a position at least based on acorresponding one of the touch data regions, wherein the output touchdata includes the position.
 27. The single chip according to claim 14,wherein the control unit is configured to determine a plurality offingerprint data regions in the fingerprint sensing data according tothe fingerprint sensing data; the control unit is configured todetermine a plurality of touch data regions in the touch sensing dataaccording to the fingerprint data regions; and the control unit isconfigured to determine the output touch data at least based on thetouch data regions.
 28. The single chip according to claim 27, whereinthe control unit is configured to determine a corresponding position foreach one of the touch data regions at least based on the one of thetouch data regions, wherein the output touch data includes thecorresponding position for each one of the touch data regions.
 29. Atouch sensing method for a display with a touch sensor and a fingerprintsensor, comprising: obtaining touch sensing data from the touch sensor;determining whether a touch event occurs according to the touch sensingdata; defining a first area according to the touch sensing data when thetouch event occurs; obtaining fingerprint sensing data from thefingerprint sensor according to the first area; defining a second areacorresponding to the touch event according to the fingerprint sensingdata, wherein the second area is smaller than the first area; andgenerating output touch data with respect to the touch event at leastbased on the fingerprint sensing data corresponding to the second area,wherein the touch sensor and the fingerprint sensor of the display panelare both of full screen size.
 30. The touch sensing method according toclaim 29, wherein the output touch data with respect to the touch eventis generated at least based on the fingerprint sensing datacorresponding to the second area and the touch sensing datacorresponding to the first area.
 31. The touch sensing method accordingto claim 29, wherein the fingerprint sensing data is obtained for touchsensing only.
 32. The touch sensing method according to claim 29,wherein the step of defining the second area further comprises:converting the fingerprint sensing data from a first domaincorresponding to a fingerprint sensing resolution to a second domaincorresponding to a touch sensing resolution; and defining the secondarea according to the fingerprint sensing data in the second domain.